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Ohio historic-preservation officials say Columbus’ first public housing complex is eligible for
the National Register of Historic Places, even as housing administrators proceed with plans to
demolish Poindexter Village.

Columbus Metropolitan Housing Authority officials are meeting with residents and Near East Side
leaders on the best way to commemorate the history and significance of Poindexter Village as they
continue to move residents out and board up buildings.

It is part of a required review the Ohio Historic Preservation Office will conduct on the
complex.

Laura Tompkins, who was formerly with Columbus Housing Justice and worked with Poindexter
residents to address concerns at the complex, called the review “an afterthought.”

She and others say they wonder why the review wasn’t done earlier, before officials decided to
raze the 27-acre complex.

“I’m a little baffled at the way this was handled,” said Nancy Recchie, a local
historic-preservation consultant who submitted her own questionnaire to the Ohio Historic
Preservation Office to see if the site was eligible for the National Register of Historic
Places.

She said Poindexter Village, dedicated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1940, is part of
Columbus’ history.

“To completely wipe it out seems very shortsighted,” Recchie said.

Based on Recchie’s questionnaire, state historic-preservation officials have determined that
Poindexter Village is eligible to be nominated for the national register, said Mark Epstein of the
Ohio Historic Preservation Office.

Rules require federal agencies to determine how their projects could affect historic
properties.

They do not require that historic structures be saved, but that the agency consider preserving
them or alternatives that minimize negative effects, said Justin Cook, history-reviews manager of
the Ohio Historic Preservation Office.

In Poindexter Village’s case, “Can you minimize (negative effects) by not demolishing all of
(the buildings)?” Cook said.

CMHA still plans to tear down all the buildings. So far, the agency has moved 300 families; 84
remain. The complex should be empty by the end of August, according to the agency.

Housing officials said the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development signed off on the
demolition after going through an extensive review process that began in 2008.

“The housing authority recognizes and is proud of the historic significance Poindexter Village
has played in the African-American community,” said Bryan Brown, CMHA’s senior vice president for
business development.

But officials have yet to determine how they will honor it.

Recchie said at least one of the buildings should be saved.

“With African-Americans, their urban history has been vastly underrepresented,” she said.

Tompkins suggests forming a nonprofit group to create a land trust to preserve several of the
buildings for historic purposes while continuing to house low-income residents.

It’s been an emotional issue for community leaders and residents who fear that a major part of
the area’s history will be wiped out and that they won’t have much of a say in what will replace
it.

Poindexter Village’s legacy was discussed over the weekend at the annual History of Black
Columbus Conference, held near the housing complex.

The site sits in the middle of 800 acres near Ohio State University Hospital East. The
university, city and housing authority — which make up a consortium called Partners Achieving
Community Transformation — are working on a plan to redevelop the area.

The two-story brick buildings that make up Poindexter Village were built on land known as the “
Blackberry Patch” in the heart of the city’s African-American community between Mount Vernon Avenue
and Long Street.

It was named after the Rev. James P. Poindexter, pastor of the Second Baptist Church from 1862
to 1898. He was the first black elected to Columbus City Council, and he served on the Columbus
school board.

Prominent local artist Aminah Robinson lived her first 17 years at Poindexter Village, and she
has captured the essence of her experiences there in her artwork, including
President Roosevelt in Poindexter Village, a work at the Poindexter Village Community
Center.

What stands out to her the most in her memories?

“Community — all in a nutshell,” she said last week in the doorway of her Sunbury Road house,
about 2 miles from where she grew up.

Robinson, now 72, wants to see at least part of Poindexter Village remain, fearing that its
eradication will echo previous attempts at urban renewal.